


Masterful

by Nevcolleil



Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-12 17:46:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1194033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevcolleil/pseuds/Nevcolleil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He never paints them as himself. He paints them in the style of the masters...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Masterful

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompts 'paint' and 'watching'.

He never paints them as himself.

He paints in the brushstrokes and the preferences of the masters. Chuck, his thighs stretched wide around Bryce's spread knees, as Bryce takes him from behind in the style of Michaelangelo; the tangle of their limbs and Neal's sheets in the spirit of Matisse.

Degas has depicted Bryce's total deconstruction, under Chuck's remarkably talented mouth. Cezanne has carefully shaded the arch of Chuck's throat and back as Bryce fingers him until he writhes.

But Neal Caffrey never paints his lovers himself.

It's not because he's _always_ watching, on the sidelines, as Bryce makes love to Chuck in Neal's bed. Or as they fuck, with just as much warmth as there is in their lovemaking but twice as much urgency.

In fact, most of Neal's "forgeries" are painted from memory. He's too busy with his hands while Bryce and Chuck are naked and hard in his presence, usually, to be painting.

Chuck kneels at Neal's feet and sucks him while Bryce bites at the back of Neal's neck and works him open from behind.

Bryce spreads for Neal, his head pillowed on Chuck's thigh, while Chuck strokes himself and watches Neal slowly thrust into Bryce.

Sometimes Neal paints while Chuck and Bryce sleep, in the aftermath, skin still warm and slightly sticky, wrapped in a robe and the memory of a dual embrace.

If one of them wakes and tries to lure Neal back to bed, it's generally Chuck.

He kisses and nips at Neal's ear and watches over Neal's shoulder as Neal paints like a child watching magic happen.

Chuck never asks the question Neal dreads the most.

He asks, "Why don't you paint yourself into the picture?"

Neal smiles and says, "Because I'm right here." He frames Chuck's face with paint-smudged fingers and enjoys the way Chuck's eyes light up just before Neal kisses him.

Bryce never asks questions, period.

When Chuck can't hear, he looks Bryce in the eyes, serious, and says, "You're with us. You get that, right?" He motions between himself and Neal and Chuck, in the other room. "This doesn't stop when we're not in the city. We come back for a reason, Neal."

Neal nods. He has to. Bryce curls fingers in the hair at the nape of Neal's neck and watches, with his sharp eyes, until Neal does, and then he kisses Neal soundly.

One day Neal will nod and mean it. Maybe when his anklet is off, and he can leave the city with his lovers without having to give up his life in New York completely.

Maybe when Chuck and Bryce retire, and he doesn't have to worry that one day one or both of them won't come back - and not just because they've decided that they make more sense without Neal in the picture.

Maybe then Neal can paint them as himself.


End file.
